This disclosure relates to aircraft maintenance and servicing tools in general, and in particular, to lockout assemblies for aircraft rudder pedals.
A “Lockout-tagout” or “LOTO” mechanism is primarily a safety tool used in industrial and research settings to ensure that machines or mechanisms are properly shut off and/or immobilized and cannot start up or move prior to the completion of maintenance or servicing activities. The term “tagout” refers to the attachment of a tag or other written or printed medium to the lockout device that can indicate, for example, when, why, and by what authority the lockout device was placed in effect and/or is safe to remove. In the case of aircraft, and in particular, large commercial or military aircraft, it is sometimes desirable to prevent movement of the control surfaces, e.g., ailerons, flaps, elevators and/or rudders, while maintenance or repair work is being performed on them or on systems associated with or adjacent to the ailerons, flaps, elevators and/or rudders.
Aircraft rudders are typically thin, vertical airfoil structures located, for example, at the aft end of an aircraft's fuselage, that are actuated by a pair of pilot-operated pedals located in the cockpit of the aircraft and used primarily to control yaw of the aircraft during flight. Some embodiments can incorporate a pivotable fin disposed at the rear edge of an otherwise fixed “vertical stabilizer” to effect such control, and in other embodiments, viz., so-called “all flying” embodiments, the entire vertical stabilizer can pivot relative to the fuselage to effect such control. In either case, it is sometimes desirable for the foregoing reasons to prevent movement of the rudder, while maintenance or repair work is being conducted on the aircraft's empennage or associated control systems.